Reviews by Tsunoh

The basic structure is like most MMORPGs: hack-and-slash, grind fest, etc. But RO is dear to its players because of the
little quirks it has: such as the idea that sticking a card from a monster into your equipment will make it stronger (a
concept artists have lampooned many times), the endless HATS! quests that people sink so much time into (because it's
the only other way you can customize how your character looks), the PvP system (quite complex; skill and gear are huge
factors here and battles can be long and epic depending on the players' abilities) which also leads to the GvG/WoE (War
of Emperium; a faction called a Guild versus other Guilds over Castles, which give the owner certain rare items and
benefits), an item upgrade system, and Hats.

My average is a 5, which should give you a clue how much I enjoyed this anime. Sometimes the humor seems a little
forced, but the overall effect is balanced. It is odd though when previously dead characters resurrect (lol), or when
dead characters die again, like the whole thing reset itself, but the 'Arc' presentation makes it all the more
interesting without being annoying. The first arc of the story draws you in, 2nd arc is like 'Hey what happened?!' but
it gives depth to the characters. By the 3rd arc, you're getting used to the reset thing, but you are still mad with
curiosity what the heck is going on. And by the fourth it all makes sense. The use of foreshadowing was also very well
played.

AGH- this is where it really fails. If you're a diehard fan of TRB, you might want to turn around now as this will
sting.

First off, Characters.

All of them are the standard stereotypes in anime- the nice guy-suffering-internal-conflict, the girl who is rescued by
the nice guy(and will inevitably fall for him), the bossy woman, and so on. It was bad enough to recycle character
designs. But recycling personalities is just... lame. Did they even TRY to make them unique? And why is it that every
single woman in this series except for Kate (Scott- the ghost) needed to be saved?

Some sugar *
* I admit having a vampire feeding on other vampires instead of humans was interesting.

unfortunately, by the second episode it was already getting on my nerves. The same process over and over again, like a
'monster of the week' thing, except it was 'victim of the week'. bah.

also, it is clear who is the 'good guy, bad guy'. this anime is tagged as 'Psychological', but it isn't. It tells you
what to think, it tells you who to side with. To be rated PSC, an anime must require DEEP thought. want a sample, try
death note. you will be toyed with like a piece of string- now THAT is psychological. psychology is also used in Gundam
Seed, where it is not clear what is right or wrong. meaning you can't go brain-dead and float off in the middle of the
episode. be forced to think for yourself.